Rapper Nicki Minaj risked arrest during a recent promotional trip to the United Arab Emirates after almost flouting Islamic law by attempting to hug a male fan at an airport in Dubai.

The Starships hitmaker was in the departures area at a private airport in the city as she prepared to return to the U.S. when she reached out to show some love to a "cute" devotee - only to discover he was a plainclothes police officer.

He shunned her advances and backed away from Minaj, and the close call caused a stir among onlookers as any physical contact or public display of affection between a male and an unmarried female is forbidden in the conservative country.

She explains, "I almost got in so much trouble because the guys in Dubai are so cute, it's not even funny. It's one of the rules there, you can't hug a man if you're not married to the man and so when we were leaving, there was this one guy who was so frigging (extremely) cute I was just like, (wanting to hug him) bye 'cause I just wanted this one last moment, just to savour the moment with him...

"But literally I didn't know that he was a cop! They don't have a police uniform... It was at a private airport so they were just dressed in their regular garments.

"I went to give him a hug and... literally I felt like time stopped in Dubai. I felt like everything froze and every single person turned around in slow motion and was just like, 'Noooooo!' and everyone in my team thought I was gonna be put in jail! It was the scariest thing but he kind of put his arms up a little bit and cracked this nervous smile, and I was like, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!' and then I just left."